2010.10.31

I've been a little surprised lately at the number of families I know who do not celebrate Halloween. I have always known some who chose not to, for whatever reason, but the number seems to be growing as of late, particularly among evangelical Christian families. While I respect everyone's right to choose what and how to celebrate, I thought I would take this opportunity to share my perspective on Halloween, and the reasons we celebrate it.

First and foremost, it bears noting that the word "Halloween" is a shortening of of "Hallow E'en," or "Hallow Even," or more fully, "Hallows Evening." The relationship of Halloween to All Saint's Day, or All Hallows Day, bears review. Back in 609 A.D., Pope Boniface IV chose May 13 as a day to remember Christian Martyrs. The date was moved to November 1 in the 8th century, and was widely celebrated by the time of Charlemagne in the 9th century. The eve of this holy day (Hallowe'en) was used for vigil - prayer for the saints and witnesses of our faith who have gone before us and have given their lives for what Christians believe.

So why dress up? Some medieval Christians used to dress up on Hallowe'en as their favorite martyr: given the gruesome deaths many of these saints faced, it was probably not a pretty sight! Others dressed as ghouls, ghosts, and other spirits not out of fear, but to mock them. After all, the foundation of All Saint's Day is that Christians have a hope that goes beyond death and the grave, and there is no need to fear. Even the practice of "trick-or-treating" can be linked to a Christian tradition: the practice of "souling." In Britain, poor Christians used to go door to door offering to say prayers for the dead in exchange for "soul cakes."

But what about the connection to pagan festivals, specifically the Celtic festival of Samhain? There is undeniably a connection, but no more so than any other Christian holiday. Both Christmas and Easter are connected to pagan festivals celebrating seasonal life. Since the time of Jesus himself, Christianity has always been an "outside" religion, spread to new lands and cultures by the earliest believers. It was common practice for Christians to adapt festivals and rituals of those with whom they were evangelizing, and the Celts were no exception. It makes sense that many of the traditions and customs of Christian holidays resemble those of the cultures that existed before Christianity arrived. It doesn't make them less meaningful or more "un-Christian."

Candy, Jack-O-Lanterns, and costumes have about as much to do with martyrs as Santa, stockings, and mistletoe have to do with the birth of Christ; or eggs, bunnies and baskets of candy have to do with his resurrection. Yet Christians are willing and eager to remind everyone the real reason for those two celebrations. Then why not re-claim Halloween? Why not teach our kids that there have been very important people like the Apostle Paul, Thomas Beckett, Joan of Arc, Thomas More, William Tyndale, and others who have died in order to propagate and protect the beliefs Christians hold dear? Why not choose to mock death and evil by dressing up? For that matter, why not use Halloween as a time to thank God for the abundance with which he has blessed us? (Walk into the candy aisle of any retail store in October and the word "abundant" will surely spring to mind!) If Christians feel that Halloween is too focused on the powers of evil, it is only because they have allowed it to be. Saying that Halloween is a Christian holiday may be overstating it a bit, but then again, Christianity has as much of a claim on Halloween as it does on Christmas or Easter.

Finally, I think it is important to say that we here in the U.S. sometimes forget that history goes back much farther than us. We didn't invent Halloween, or Christmas, or Easter. Sure, our capitalist machine has taken them to new heights of excess and popularity, but reaching back in to history we can find traditions and customs that are rich with a depth of meaning we often forget. Particularly in evangelical Protestant churches, much of our Christian heritage is not taught or emphasized, but is incredibly meaningful.

So whatever you choose to do today, I hope it will be filled with meaning and enjoyment. As for me, I'll be trick-or-treating with my kids and reminding them - or trying to, at least - of the reasons why we do what we do!

2010.08.11

Monday nights I work late. Two nights ago, I was trying to get to a particular store (okay, it was Michael's, the craft store...go ahead and laugh) before they closed at 9:00. I wanted to check something that would probably have taken 2 minutes, tops. I tore into the parking lot and ran to the door at 8:55 and discovered...

IT WAS ALREADY LOCKED!

I stood at the door and finally got the attention of an employee who just shook her head and mouthed something that I hope was "we're closed," and not "you're hosed." I walked back to my car, pretty frustrated, and noticed the closing manager unlocking the door to let the last few customers out. By this point it was 8:59.

Now, I've worked a tiny bit in retail and I understand that everyone wants to go home. But locking the door early is just bad business and it made me never want to shop at Michael's again. So, I sat in my car and used my iPhone to visit the Michael's website and write a complaint. Yesterday I got two e-mails. Today I got a personal phone call from the manager of THAT store, apologizing. He assured me they are changing some things about their closing procedures and the issue is being addressed.

Now, I'm not particularly angry about this. I didn't lose any money, or get injured, or anything else major. It was a tiny inconvenience that I thought should be addressed. Kudos to Michael's for quickly responding and attempting to address the situation.

And to all my friends who still work in retail...I'm sorry. I've become THAT guy.

2009.11.30

With sincere apologies to my friend Sean McMains, I decided to create my own post-mortem to do list. This is the Thanksgiving edition.

=-=-=-=-=

Make Thanksgiving turkey and dressing. Argue with Elisa about whether it is called dressing or stuffing.

Make sweet potato casserole with enough butter, cinnamon and brown sugar so that you can hardly taste the sweet potatoes. Marvel at the fact that the kids won't eat it, even when it is smothered in marshmallows.

Watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the DVR while preparing dinner. Wonder why Al Roker's commentary on the Snoopy balloon was worth recording at all.

Clog up the sink while preparing Thanksgiving dinner. Spend the better part of the day trying (unsuccessfully) to unclog it.

Put Miracle on 34th Street on the DVD player to watch. Be surprised when it is over and I'm still under the sink.

Go shopping on Black Friday for a 25-ft drain auger to unclog the kitchen sink. Feel strangely proud when the sink drains.

Decorate Christmas tree. Wonder why we are decorating a flimsy artificial tree when we live in Oregon. Consider un-decorating and replacing the tree next weekend.

Stop hiding the fact I've been listening to Christmas music for two weeks already and put the Christmas playlist into full iPod rotation.

Take nap on couch while watching college football. Smile.

Take the kids up to Mount Hood to go sledding. Be reminded of just how old you are with every bump. Use the ground as a very large ice pack.

Make fudge using my dad's recipe. Wonder why I can never get it to come out right.

Wake up late for work on Monday. Be thankful that I'm a college professor.

2009.02.12

Looking back over the past year of this blog, it's pretty sparse. That's disappointing to me, but I guess a reality of life right now. That this year has been busy is probably an understatement in Elisa's opinion, but sometimes it's more difficult to see it when you're in the middle of it all.

Nonetheless, yesterday I passed a pretty significant milestone. I'm studying to receive a Doctor of Musical Arts degree -- it's a Doctoral degree, but not a PhD. The main difference is in the dissertation. In lieu of a major paper, my "dissertation" is a series of 4 recitals, or 3 recitals and a lecture. I've completed the three recitals, and will present a thesis paper at a lecture in a few months that will officially be the final component of my degree (besides coursework).

However, most every doctoral program I know of has a series of examinations. Mine is no exception, and the process has taken longer than it should have due to the interruption of the Christmas break. Back in October, I sat for the first component of the examination, the written portion. I was given 10 excerpts from choral scores and was asked to identify salient features and suggest a probable composer and approximate date of composition. I was asked to write significant essays on three questions dealing with various topics such as 20th century settings of the mass text, the effects of the Council of Trent on sixteenth-century polyphony, and the Oratorios of Felix Mendelssohn. I was also asked to write on how I would improve a choir's note-reading and rhythm-reading skills, and what choral works I might program in the first two years of a university job. For my related field in Music Education, I was asked to write a significant essay outlining my philosophy of teaching.

After I passed that two-day ordeal, I was assigned a research project. In two weeks time, I was to research and write a comparative analysis of Frank Martin's Mass for Double Chorus and Ralph Vaughan Williams' Mass in G Minor.

Once the research project was turned in, it was time for Christmas break, so I had to sweat a while. Finally, yesterday I sat for my oral examination and defense of my project. I sat in a room with 5 professors, with a collective 150 years of experience between them. They got to ask me anything they wanted. ANYTHING at all. They started with the paper I wrote, but proceeded to venture out into other areas of music that they felt would scare the crap out of me.

I call it "academic hazing." Sitting in a room with incredibly brilliant people, it is made very clear that no matter how much you know, or think you know, it is FAR LESS than they know. Fortunately, I didn't pee in my pants or pass out. In the end, I was sent out into the hallway to sweat for 5 minutes while they talked about who knows what, my future hanging in the balance.

Then my major professor walked out, looked at me with a frown on his face and shook his head from side to side. Lucky for me, I had seen him pull this little joke several times before so I had a hunch that everything was okay. He extended his hand, broke into a smile and said, "congratulations!"

So, I'm done with the exams. All I have to do now is finish up my Thesis and present the lecture in March. Once that's done and I finish my coursework in May, I'll be finished with school forever. At least until I decide to get another degree!

I assumed that I would write my doctoral thesis in the spring, but as it turns out I have chosen to do a study with the UNT Men's Chorus I conduct, which means the initial data collection and study has to be set up for this fall...like in three weeks.

Again regarding the Thesis, I figured that once the data collection was done this semester, I would have most of the spring to compile it and write it up. No again. I was selected to present the study at the 4th International Conference on the Physiology and Acoustics of Singing in January, which means it needs to be written by then. (By the way, I fully appreciate the irony of being selected for an "international" conference in San Antonio where I lived for over 10 years. To be fair, PAS3 was in York, England, PAS2 was in Denver, CO, and PAS1 was in Groningen, The Netherlands. Lucky for me I can afford to travel to San Antonio. Not so lucky for me, I don't get to go anywhere exotic!)

I'm also teaching fundamentals of conducting this year, and I haven't really sat down to plan my curriculum. Anyone who thinks taking a college class is harder than teaching one has probably never taught one.

Then, of course, there are the 12 hours of academic courses I'm taking plus conducting lessons and a doctoral recital. No problem.

Here's the upside, though: barring a major slip-up, I'll be done in May. Degree-in-hand. Lots of my friends and colleagues finish coursework and get a job with "ABD" status (all but dissertation), which means they have to find a way to write their paper during their first year in a new job. I'll be done in May with a whole summer to recuperate before starting a job in May.

Speaking of a job, no I don't have one yet. Most universities list job openings beginning around October and some as late as May & June, so next year will be a year of job-hunting as well. I'll try to keep thing updated here.

2008.06.11

Eventually, we had to head home. On the way, we stopped in St. Louis and visited the Gateway Arch, which was not only a first for my kids, but for my mom as well.

Having seen the arch all my life in pictures, it's always kind of surreal to be so up close and see the metal it's made of and the magnitude of the shape and size.

We also rode the tram all the way to the top. If you ever do this, don't worry about safety. The tram is small, but it was built with all the modern technology the 60s had to offer
. (!)

When we're on the road, we almost always try to stay in hotels that have a pool. Swimming is a great way for the kids to blow off steam and get some exercise when they've been in the car all day. My kids ALWAYS obey the rules...

Here's the aftermath of 3600 miles and 60 hours in the car...

We had an amazing trip. I think my parents did, too. The only side effect has been that my kids seem to be molded to their car seats. I found them like this the other day.

2008.06.09

No vacation at Elisa's family place in Wisconsin would be complete without a trip to Lake Superior. Mercer is only about 40 miles from Superior, and it's one of Elisa's favorite places to visit. For all you artists who need some inspiration, here's why...

We usually go to a spot called Little Girls Point, but sometimes we go to Black River Harbor. The whole area is beautiful. This year, since they are about 3 weeks behind in terms of spring arriving, it was quite cold. Actually, it was REALLY cold. Here's how my parents felt about it.

The kids, however, were a different story. Sub-40 temperatures and near-freezing water didn't stop them from stripping off their shoes and rolling up their pants. I remembered too late that we brought shorts for both of them!

Regardless of the temperature, it's such an amazing place we had to stroll along (or run) and collect a few stones. In case you can't tell, that's my mom in front, followed by Cason, then Jack, then me.

The kids probably could have stayed all day, but once our picnic ran out we really noticed the cold. Eventually we had to go back to Mercer, but it was a really great day-trip.

2008.06.07

While we usually spend most of our time in Mercer doing NOTHING (intentionally), sometimes we like to venture out and take little trips to the local attractions. This time, we went to the Wildwood Wildlife Park. I wasn't expecting much, since we've been to some really great zoos, but it was VERY cool. Half the park is a petting area with goats, tortoises, and pigs roaming around. The staff will remove any of the caged animals--like porcupines, opossums, minks, ferrets, and skunks--and let you pet one. The park is small enough that you can get really close to the enclosures. You can even feed a black bear! I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, me or the kids!

Here are the kid petting a tortoise. They move faster than I thought, even though I almost stepped on one because I thought it was a big rock!

After a long time of hassling with the vending machine, finally finding a staff person to help, we got a bottle of "bear juice" and I got to feed the black bear.

The kids LOVED the bunny area. They got to go into the enclosure and terrorize...er...gently pick up the bunnies and pet them. For more pictures, go to my web gallery.

2008.06.05

Once we left Chicago, it was a quick 7 hour trip up I-39/U.S. 51 to Mercer. When we got there in the afternoon it was in the high 30s, with wet, melty, snow-like precipitation. (It's hard to describe what it was when it hit the ground, but it was definitely snow when it began its journey to the earth!) The weather got better, but not much warmer. We stayed in the 50s and 60s for most of the time.

Here's a picture of Julie and Piper on the dock. This dock is about 150 feet from the house, and the dining room window has an unobstructed view of the lake.

One of my favorite things to do is to drive down to Minocqua and eat at Paul Bunyan's. Family style all-you-can-eat lumberjack breakfast with homemade buttermilk donuts...mmmmmm!

The kids love fishing off the dock, and more often than not you can catch a small crappie or northern pike like this one. Jack is really excited!

Of course, if you want to catch bigger fish, you have to go out in the boat. I caught 2 northern pike (26- and a 24-inches). The kids got to see them cleaned, fried, and eaten!

A couple of nights, we had a fire in the fire pit outside. Of course, we needed to split logs for firewood. Yes, that's me swinging an ax. In my first attempt at splitting logs, I didn't lose any fingers and suffered no injuries (a first for me on one of these trips)!

Lest you think it was always cloudy and gloomy, here's a picture of the kids playing in the sandbox. It's still chilly (note long sleeves) but not cold (note the absence of jackets).

For more pictures, you can visit my web gallery. In my next couple of posts, I'll share pictures of the zoo and of our trip to Lake Superior.

2008.05.25

Well, it's almost over now, but our two-week trip up north for the summer has given me enough room to breathe. Go ahead and question the sanity of taking two pre-school kids on a 3600+ mile roadtrip, but we always make it work and have lots of fun (without a single DVD in the car!). For more details about how we make it fun for the kids, check out our other blog, Thoughts on Parenting.

This year, we decided to include my parents in the trip. They've never been up to Elisa's family place in Wisconsin, and were excited to join us. We met them in Vicksburg (halfway for both of us), and drove to Chicago. My dad got to see his old high school and his house, and my mom got to see the city for the first time. Our hotel was on the "Gold Coast," and was quite a steal from HotWire.

Here are some pics of the first leg of our journey. You can see more on my Web Gallery. This was our snazzy room in our über-snobby "boutique" hotel in Chicago.

We did the "driving tour" of the major sites, since we only had one morning and my mom hadn't seen the city. Here's the Sears Tower.

Here's Wrigley Field.

Here's the new Trump Tower (remember season 1 of The Apprentice?).

Our moment of serendipity -- I was taking the kids for a walk after they finished eating in a not-so-kid-friendly restaraunt near our hotel, and we happened upon this amazing little park. Elisa and my parents soon joined us. We returned the next morning to play before heading out of town.